Arma III’s complexity is a double-edged sword. It takes a long time to comprehend, but once you’re comfortable enough with its mechanics to take advantage of them under pressure, you’re able to engage in a kind of large-scale tactical combat that’s simply not offered elsewhere.

Even though it is a step forward from the previous episode, there are still some AI-related issues that need to be fixed. Apart from that, the lack of campaign mode –so far, it'll be added as free DLCs later– makes it a platform where, at the moment, we can only enjoy the community creations.

Buy into Arma 3 now and you’re buying into many promises. Bohemia’s pledge of a coherent campaign, its promise of a wider array of military toys to play with, and its intent to tweak and update AI errors, scripting issues, and pathfinding problems. But these promises are backed up by thousands of the world’s most dedicated players, people who’ve spent years crawling through Arma 2’s rough terrain to find the comparatively even ground of Arma 3. Buying Arma 3 at launch is buying a promise, then, but few games are so meticulously realised, or show so much promise.

The newest installment of Bohemia's military-game is a product with great potential, especially from the community’s side. Unfortunately Arma 3 is quite inaccessible and doesn't seem to grow along with modern game design on certain fronts. It's a game that lives through the community.

If you like hiking through the mountains for hours, a high-powered rifle cradled in your arms, then watching your screen go crimson as a sniper arcs three rounds into your head from like four klicks away, then this is truly the ideal game for you.

Arma III is a disgrace for the gaming world. It feels like it’s rushed to the market and still in the alpha phase of developing. Bohemia Interactive will have to release a buck load of patches to make this game work properly. This is unfortunate as they could have spent that time trying to deliver a good game.

Arma 3 makes big steps forward with a huge world and more vehicles and weapons. This time around its trump card is Steam workshop integration though, making downloading mods effortless. A smart move by Bohemia Interactive because it are those mods that will give Arma 3 its long lifespan. Unfortunately Arma 3 is quite inaccessible and doesn't seem to grow along with modern game design on certain fronts. Space time and perseverance are your best friends here, until Bohemia's support starts paying off.

Arma is a great series with a very specific public and we love it for it, but this entry would be better with a bit of evolution and lacks some important features. It is still a unique experience well worth your time if you want a very different FPS.

There is no doubt that Arma III is realistic. In fact, it is the best combat simulator on the market. Is it fun though? For me, I found it an exercise in frustration at times. Games need to entertain me, not frustrate me.

My experience with Arma III contained equal doses of pleasant surprise, delight, feeling of emptiness after finishing single player missions, and longing for more. If you’re mainly interested in the single player campaign, I advise you to wait at least for the first DLC before buying this game. [CD-Action 11/2013, p.58]

While lacking a true single player component (at least for the moment) and with some bugs and glitches still to patch, the new war simulator by Bohemia Interactive will capture hardcore gamers with a massive, vast, complex and layered new episode.

Arma 3 is equally a great military simulation, and finally a game. It has its flaws, but when you look at the game's enormous size, they are tolerable. You won't find a better "trooper simulation", nor a bigger sandbox playground anywhere.

Arma 3 is as much a tool as it is a game, and it is by far the best tool Bohemia has created so far. Its not perfect though, and it's still a product for a very specific audience. I wish a few compromises had been made to make it more accessible and fun.

ArmA III has kept me busy for months, and its final version made me feel ambivalent. On one hand we have a great technological leap, on the other - poor content. Sure, ArmA III isn't your regular shooter that needs to have an interesting, long campaign - it's a game that lives through the community - but it's a pity, that the gamers were given so little to work on. Arma III was supposed to be great, and right now is only promising.

With Arma 3, Bohemia made a big step towards a unified platform for its military shooters, but at the same time took two steps back in regards to actual game content. Only the most hardcore fans will enjoy Arma 3 in its current form.

By listening to its community, Bohemia Interactive is selling us the most well-polished ArmA yet to this day, with numerous options for in-game content creation. With an exceptional graphics engine allowing a superb rendering and well evolved physics ArmaA imposes itself as the reference of infantry sims. With a very demanding gameplay, ArmA 3 claims its elitism and raises it as a dogma to face the competition. Quite unfriendly to the newbies, Arma can disappoint by its obvious lack of initial content, which should be vastly improved by the community through the content creator toolbox. Unique for its tough challenges hence the feeling of deep satisfaction when you complete a mission, ArmA 3 sets itself as the playground of elite gamers.

Arma III is the best representation of realistic warfare I've seen to date, and I for one can't wait to see what the community cooks up for it. For now, however, it is a bit too skinny for its breeches.

For now, I think it means you're better off sticking with Arma II. Underwater missions, accomplished vehicle physics, an impressive array of player stances and fantastic visuals can't make up for a too-big map full of nothing and a handful of missions most computers and servers can't fully handle. I'll tell you what though, Arma III is going to be a great game in 2015.

Arma 3: The newest installment of Bohemia's military-game is more than ever an excellent platform and sandbox with great potential. Especially since the community has built much in-game content so far. Unfortunately the game-content, included by the developers, is not satisfying enough. The units and game-areas are great, but there are many bugs with AI, scripts and more and only a few multiplayer scenarios available.

When it clicks, the game is second-to-none which is why I’ll continue to play despite its many issues. With no campaign, spotty multiplayer, and poor canned scenarios, Arma III just isn’t a complete product at this time.

First of all: the actual score is only to compensate for the blind fanboys who are giving this game a 10. Not in their wildest dreams is thisFirst of all: the actual score is only to compensate for the blind fanboys who are giving this game a 10. Not in their wildest dreams is this game deserving of a perfect score. In fact, a reasonable score would be something in the 3 to 5 range.

Full disclosure: I bought the game when the alpha was first released. Not only that: I got the "Supporter Edition", which is supposed to get be every bit of content, including future paid DLC. I even got my name in the credits for being one of the first 500 to buy it!

Since then, not much has improved. This is basically an unfinished game... according to "Dwarden", one of the developers who constantly posts on the Steam Community Discussions for ARMA 3, Bohemia Interactive's games are like "wine", and they get bette over time. Well... months have passed, and I still see something that shouldn't be considered a full release. This is still an early alpha build, at best.

The game lacks content. There are few vehicles and they all look pretty much alike. The game is also supposed to take place in the 2030s, and the only available jet looks like it came straight out of the 1970s.

The sound effects and voice acting is awful and not realistic at all, even though this is promoted as a "simulator" rather than an actual game.

The interface is terrible and not intuitive at all. Perhaps one of the worst aspects of the game. It's really something you have to see for yourself... on gameplay videos, that is. You'd be shocked by how bad it is.

Altis, the "huge open-world" environment of the game, is a dead, uninteresting place. Towns all look the same. Houses have no furniture. The few inhabitants are all in beach clothing for some reason (do people actually work in Altis?). It makes you wonder why there's a military conflict to take control of the island in the first place.

The poor optimization of the game deserves an essay of its own. Really, it's baffling how at this day and age something like this can be accepted by the gaming community. The game runs HORRIBLY on the most high-end PCs out there, no matter how low the settings are. Arma 3's shortcomings on this regard are well documented. Just Google "Arma 3" and "FPS". The game uses an ancient engine that despite being incredibly heavy doesn't even manage to make the game look as good as something like Crysis 3, Battlefield 3, The Witcher 2, Metro: Last Light, etc..

Things get worse when you go online. You'll get about a third of the framerates you get in "single-player".

Oh yes, and I added quotes to "single-player" because... there's no actual single-player campaign yet. Just a bunch of showcases (small demos) that were there from day 1 of the alpha.

So what are you left with in this "fantastic" military simulator, since multi-player is pretty much unplayable? Well... load up the map editor and die of boredom.

It's as if Bohemia Interactice is asking the community to save this train wreck with custom scenarios and the like. Why? because Bohemia Interactive failed at releasing a proper game.

Of course, they don't lack excuses. "Part of the development team was in jail for some time". "Bohemia isn't as big as EA, Ubisoft, Activision, Valve, etc.". "The game will get better". Just to name a few.

Well I don't care. If you're ambitious enough to release what's supposed to be "a futuristic military simulator in a huge open-world environment", that game better deliver. Especially when you're charging the same for it as those other companies charge for their well-polished games.

Anyway, that's my rant. Don't make the same mistake I made. This game is not worth your money, or more importantly, your time.…Full Review »

Compare to the other games, with the right players it can achieve more, we don't need call of duty fans
to play this game and say, "Omg thisCompare to the other games, with the right players it can achieve more, we don't need call of duty fans
to play this game and say, "Omg this game sux ballz, i cnt run faster, i cant shoot anything omg"
so, if you hate a Real and intense game play don't buy this game, it need communication and team work,
which simply no kid in cod has ever done before…Full Review »